Whatever superlatives you want to toss Ronda Rousey’s way, she probably deserves it. It’s next to impossible to overstate her importance to women’s MMA. Simply put, without her success in StrikeForce and the UFC, women’s MMA never would have taken off and it’s a 100 percent sure bet that the UFC would’ve remained a sausage fest to this day.
Not only did Ronda Rousey give the UFC a major, bankable, PPV-driving name, she gave them a transcendent, crossover celebrity to parade about in the mainstream in a manner that no other fighter in MMA history has been able to. Chuck Liddell, GSP, Anderson Silva and Brock Lesnar may have inspired million-plus buyrates, but Rousey became the sport’s pop cultural ambassador. She became the face of the sport on morning news programs and late night talk shows and even starred in a couple of big budget Hollywood productions. When you have the future President of the freakin’ United States tweeting about you, you know you have a bona fide star on your hands.
The problem, of course, is that the UFC bought into their own hype. Sure, Ronda Rousey was tearing through contenders like Bethe Correia and Alexis Davis in less time than it takes to get wet in a shower, but they made a major miscalculation in believing she truly was as good as they had marketed her. Who can forget Joe Rogan’s now infamous hagiography ahead of UFC 193, in which he extolled Rousey is not just a “once in a lifetime” fighter, but a competitor who was truly “once in human history?”
Now, the UFC’s license to print money may not have been destroyed that fateful night in Australia, but Holly Holm’s shocking stoppage of the Bantamweight champ certainly threw a financially tangible monkey wrench into the cogwork. It’s evident that Rousey didn’t take this thing called “losing” very well, judging by her year long layover (and honestly, who knows what really went on with her in the downtime between UFC 193 and UFC 207?) Furthermore, the very painful loss did considerable damage to her stock as not only PPV buyrate generating machine, but also as potential La-La-Land A-lister. Until that hellacious beatdown from Holm, the mass media monolith really did think of her as some sort of unstoppable ass kicking machine, and nothing miffs a sponsor and casting agent quite like watching that mystique vanish overnight.
But glory, as we all know, can be reclaimed. And if Rousey were to waltz on into UFC 207 and dethrone Amanda Nunes for the 135-pound title, well, a lot of people – let alone, Rousey herself – are destined to make a lot of moolah.
The thing is, reality has a funny way of interjecting itself into the script. As far as company economics go, of course they want Rousey to win, and preferably, in a very spectacular manner (we’re talking one of those old school Rousey finishes, where the entire fight can be encapsulated in .GIF form.) That boosts her persona in the public eye and gives her ample opportunities to do the talk show shuffle, and maybe even garner a small role in some sort of huge Hollywood blockbuster – a Marvel or D.C. tentpole spectacle, perhaps. If Rousey wins, that guarantees her face is going to be everywhere for at least a week, and naturally, that gives WME quite a bit of wiggle room to prep her next title defense. And lest we forget, having Rousey around as a crossover celebrity cash cow is huge, seeing as how the UFC TV rights will be up for grabs beginning in 2018. Long story short, if Rousey wins, the UFC wins. They get their golden goose in the spotlight, they get to set up a huge mid-summer show to possibly shatter PPV buyrates and – most importantly – they have a huge amount of leverage heading into network TV rights talks.
But what happens if the unthinkable happens and not only does Rousey lose, she gets absolutely destroyed by Amanda Nunes?
Oh, don’t doubt for a minute that it can’t happen. What Nunes did to Miesha Tate at UFC 200 was quite possibly the worst beating a female has experienced in front of a national audience since COPS went off the air. “The Lioness” can just as easily do to Rousey what she did to the previous Bantamweight strap holder – if not even more brutally.
A dominant, flashy Rousey performance is definitely the preferred outcome, for money’s sake. A very competitive down-to-the-judges five-rounder could also bode well for the UFC’s bottom line – not only would it give them the go-ahead for a billion-dollar rematch, it would also give them time to actually promote who Amanda Nunes is. That a company has done so little to promote Nunes – who really, could be the perfect MMA ambassador for the LGBT community, and vice-versa – is downright bush league.
But Rousey getting subbed and KTFO, and getting finished two fights in a row? The cries of “wash-up” would echo instantly. There goes the crossover appeal of your biggest transcendent attraction. There goes that big stadium show you wanted to do in July. And worst of all, there goes your biggest and brightest bargaining chip to bring to the network TV poker table. Long story short? A Rousey loss would be absolutely disastrous for UFC’s financials, and by proxy, the overall pop cultural value of the UFC as a mainstream brand.
The greatest casualty of all, however, would be women’s MMA. The UFC has been trucking along all fine and dandy in Rousey’s absence, but that’s because they’ve had Conor McGregor around to fight three times over the course of eight months. There’s no pleasant way to say this, but without Rousey on the roster, women’s MMA is pointless. The UFC has failed to make a star – or even a proven PPV draw – out of any other female fighters (and no, Paige VanZant hasn’t had anywhere close to the same sort of crossover impact Rousey has made.) I hate to say it, but there’s no way Joanna Jedrzejczyk or even Cris Cyborg can carry women’s MMA to mainstream, bigtime media success. Just try to imagine what the NBA would’ve been like in the early ‘90s without Michael Jordan, and that’s women’s MMA without Ronda Rousey – there’s a lot of talent around, to be sure, but would Hakeem Olajuwon or Patrick Ewing have been able to transform the League into the global entertainment powerhouse it became under M.J? Not bloody likely.
This Saturday, more is on the line for the sport of MMA than there has been all year. With one armbar or one straight right to the jaw, the UFC war machine can march into 2017 with its head (and pocket books) held high, awaiting yet another bountiful crop of PPV buyrates in the 12 months ahead. But if things don’t go according to plan, and Nunes makes Rousey look about as Octagon-ready as a half-awake C.M. Punk?
In that case, the UFC – and by default, the sport of mixed martial arts as a whole – may never recover from the shock.
